The present disclosure relates to the field of vehicles, and specifically to the field of self-driving vehicles. Still more specifically, the present disclosure relates to the field of automatically providing a pathway around other self-driving vehicles on a roadway.
Self-driving vehicles (SDVs) are vehicles that are able to autonomously drive themselves through private and/or public spaces. Using a system of sensors that detect the location and/or surroundings of the SDV, logic within or associated with the SDV controls the propulsion, stopping, and steering of the SDV based on the sensor-detected location and surroundings of the SDV.
As SDVs overtake public roadways, managing their movement becomes significant in order to take advantage of the superior maneuvering abilities of the SDVs. However, most prior art solutions to this problem involve some SDVs simply acquiescing to other SDVs, regardless of which SDV technically has the right of way. However, this causes further problems since such movements cause traffic backups, congestion, and other interruptions to normal and/or engineered traffic flows.
For example, in Tonguz et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0278029), dynamic traffic control (DTC) systems include mechanisms that allow certain vehicles to have higher priority than other vehicles in having the right of way at intersections. However, this simply causes cross-traffic patterns to be stalled, thus negating the advantage of having SDV systems whose movement can be coordinated.
Thus, the present invention provides a system that allows SDVs to travel along roadways in a manner that does not negatively impact the traffic flow of other SDVs.